


Wishful Thinking: The Campaign for Magdelene IX

by SamPardi



Series: The Life and Times of Inquisitor Pardi [2]
Category: Warhammer 40.000
Genre: F/F, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-03
Updated: 2015-10-05
Packaged: 2018-05-05 16:12:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5381675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamPardi/pseuds/SamPardi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Now established as an Inquisitor, Sam Pardi readies a small force and sets off to liberate a nearby Shrine World and cripple the Ork Waaagh that threatens the entire sector. It's her trial by fire as in order to beat back of the grim darkness of the forty-first millennium there must be war.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Invasion: Magdelene IX 1

**Segmentum Tempestus  
Forsarr Sector  
Kastorel System  
August 7th, 998M41**  
  
Our trip through warp to the Kastorel System is almost entirely uneventful. For a brief time the Navigator is convinced there is something out there nearby, but after a half an hour it apparently passed us by unmolested. I used the time well to come up with an initial plan of attack.  
  
I had been half-convinced we'd be beset by some sort of border patrol as soon as we returned to real-space but as far as I could tell there was nothing even out this far in the system. With our arrival apparently unnoticed Captain Halle wasted no time getting us behind the target planetoid. The _Swiftly Dancing_  trailed in our shadow allowing our Shadowfield to indirectly provide it stealth as well. This final part of the trip took five days and we waited an additional two while my daughters participated in a brief series of war-games planet-side.  
  
At the end of it the lead Drill Instructor declared my girls had passed their Basic Training. As I looked out at them proudly an orb formed in the midst of each squad and quickly zipped into my chest. I nodded to myself, both in acknowledgement of ROB's decision and affirmation of my own. It was time to take on the first operation I had planned.  
  
Of course first I made certain my first-born, Badhb, Macha and Nemain, had appropriate teachers and caretakers arranged. Despite their still toddler aged appearance their minds were more than advanced enough to absorb higher level information. Even better their minds were still physically young and would adopt new information much more quickly than an adult. Thus I was having them tutored by officers from all branches in tactics, Air, Land and Void, as well as basic logistics.  
  
While I may have been raring to go, there was the simple reality that I had to explain my plan to everyone. That required a gathering of all the Command Officers and all the Officers that would be directly involved with the attack. Then I had to explain it all again to my daughters and the ships compliment, two squads, of Inquisitorial Stormtroopers.  
  
The plan wasn't all that complex really. We needed to cut off the heads of each of the major and probably most of the minor Warbands on the planet. It just so happened a minor Goff Warboss had settled on a relatively isolated island in the middle of the planet's ocean. My daughters and I, along with Smoit and the Stormtroopers, would take our Palmiro Lighters, Lighters designed for use by power-armored troops like the Sororitas with heavy armor and a Twin-Linked laser for amament, and execute a discrete burn down to the planet and blitz the island. If successful we'd have a defensible landing zone to build a foothold with. One we could potentially use without their even noticing our dropping the equipment.  
  
Waiting for the logistics to get ready cost us another day which I used to get another generation of daughters gestating. Finally we were ready and the Aerium Ferrum slipped all but invisibly around the relatively small Ork fleet, probably devastated by whatever force was used to land the Harakoni. Finally we were on the appropriate approach vector and the six Lighters dedicated to the mission launched into space on a direct route for the ideal re-entry vector.  
  
About an hour later the hulls of the venerable vessels began to burn. We were at our most visible, if the Orkz below saw us at all, it'd be now.  
  
One of the Lighters veered slightly off course and there was a moment of concern but it quickly fell back into line. The lack of fire from anti-orbital and anti-air defenses told us that we had managed unnoticed. After all, Orkz wouldn't allow a little think like the certainty of missing stop them from firing, so if their guns stayed silent it was only because they had no idea you were there. Still we didn't test it and immediately dropped until we were skimming the ocean and protected from most of their sensors by the benefit of the horizon.  
  
I can't help but feel my anticipation rise. Smoit is across from me giving his gear one last going over. He was going to be leading the Stormtroopers and the Heavy Weapons squads on the hardest defended part of the assault. They would be dropped in the relatively undefended Squig pens and have to fight their way into the base proper. Since the pens were cut off by a check-point it was guaranteed to be hard fighting, but much better than trying through the front gates.  
  
The Lighters roared through the skies as they appeared over the horizon to the Goff camp. Their presence was so unexpected and they came on so fast that the alarm was barely sent out when the Lighters made their initial buzz of the island. All of them fired their lasers into the mass of Orks and structures. Some shots were better than others but most just sliced through a Boy or at best damaged a turret. One of the Lighters on the flank, however, missed its main target but got lucky and damaged the rock supporting a section of the defensive wall. It quickly collapsed in a small landslide.  
  
"Attention, landing party! Redirect to Southwest Beachhead. The wall is already breached in that quadrant!" I ordered into my vox which was connected to the pilots and the squad.  
  
While the lucky shot meant both that ship and the one next to it took almost no fire, the other four weren't so lucky. On the other hand none of them were taken down. Despite scorched hulls or burnt wings, none of them truly suffered any loss of flight dynamics. As we crossed over the center of the base two of the Lighters suddenly pulled up until their craft was practically vertical. That was when they opened their rear hatches, allowing for a surprisingly organized drop from my daughters.  
  
Though they fall, they do so with the utmost control keeping themselves together and heading for landing zones roughly within the base. Of course there is an element of luck to something like this, and the close range specialized squad manages to touch down behind a pack of Shoota Boyz far too interested in their sisters to even notice them. Bolt pistols bark and Eviscerators roar as they tear into the Orkz that had dared ignore them. Their initiative and strength is too much for the suddenly embattled green skins. Despite being outnumbered two to one they annihilate the Ork squad in short order.  
  
The ranged squad makes their landing as planned but is far less fortunate as they immediately come under fire. One takes a Rokkit to the thigh and goes down, probably for good, but the rest merely fight on harder determined to give far better than they get. It must be said their Bolters are up to the task and the penetrating shots are performing wonderfully against the usually thickly armored Goffs. They also don't simply stand and take it, diving behind cover where possible and also using their jump-packs to take firing positions on the walls and rain death on their surprised foes.  
  
I wait as the Lighters come around in a tight circle and start to drop the remaining troops off at the beachhead I'd specified. With all six hanging around they can direct their laser fire into clearing out entrenched Orkz or widening the gap in the base walls. Frankly, I doubt they'll actually face much opposition until they make it into the base. Of course they have three heavy weapons squads and two Stormtrooper squads, there was very little that could honestly slow such a force down even if half of them  _weren't_  blatantly superhuman.  
  
Most of the Lighters burn for a small island they'd be staying at until the Base was clear or we needed extraction. Mine runs over the base once more, this time almost no fire jumps up at, and what does isn't accurate in the slightest. The pilot, as ordered, identifies the main squad of nobs and prepares to drop me right on the bastards. I unhook my restraints and take a standing position, GBE drawn, in preparation.  
  
It quickly turns vertical and I stick my feet to the floor. Probably exactly what my daughters did to keep their drops so orderly. The doors finally open and I let myself drop. Of course just as I'm on level with the bay doors one of those shots finally hits the Lighter. It jukes from the force and clips me with the still extended ramp and sends me spinning out of control. For a brief moment I experience a surge of panic, and dizziness but I immediately direct my essence to my inner ear and quickly correct the fatal weaknesses in the organ. My head clears and my sense of direction returns to normal despite my still spinning.  
  
Using the jump-pack of my armor I manage to get myself righted before I've actually hit the ground. It probably wouldn't have killed me but I was glad I didn't have to find out. Noting the squig pens below me I aim my GBE and fire straight down while pushing myself upwards as much as possible with my TTK. The recoil is amplified by the force and I find myself floating back up into the sky. I burn some of my fuel to put me back on course for the section of the base that hosted the Nobs. An unfortunate Killa Kan below me becomes the target to allow for my next boost. It's at an angle but I kind of want to be there anyways.  
  
The Kan disintegrates before the might of my weapon and I'm thrown slightly to the left and forwards. While the upwards push works once more, it doesn't give me nearly the same height as the first one did. I wait patiently until I've flown past the Wartrukk I was targeting before firing again. This time the push is  _much_  shallower and only gets me a dozen or so yards further into Ork lines. I still land on my feet and immediately put a much smaller gravity beam through a group of Choppa Boyz.  
  
The Nobz are up ahead yet out of sight in the rabble, screaming Waaagh and pumping themselves up. Behind me I can feel the Spirit of my daughters rising as well. I keep the GBE dialed down to a mere anti-infantry setting and draw out my Bolt Pistol.  
  
"Let's get DANGEROUS!" I shout with a vicious grin as I blow the face off a nearby Gretchin.


	2. Invasion: Magdelene IX 2

I quickly realize that for all its destructive power, the linear nature of the GBE's beam is only leaving me open to further attacks from the teeming mass of Orkz around me. So far they haven't hit me with anything a little counter-push can't handle, but I'm not interested in letting them find something better. I quickly holster both of my pistols and jump into the air as my Heavy Bolter begins spitting rounds.  
  
For the moment of hang-time I actually get a decent view of how my team is doing. My Heavy Weapons teams hadn't bothered going through the gap in the wall and had simply jumped onto the walkway atop the wall itself. Two of them were raining death and fire on the scattered Orkz and Gretchins below. The other team was taking care of a pair of Deff Kopters that had gotten into the air. Two Meltaguns were aiming at each of the Orkish war machines and with their accurate fire both had important components like rotors or pilots reduced to slag in an instant. Falling husks of broken Kopters took a few more Orkz out as they crashed.  
  
Smoit had led the Stormtroopers through the breach and I couldn't help but admire their almost mechanical precision. They efficiently cut down an entire squad of Slugga Boyz and simply kept walking. In contrast my own Tactical Squad was firing around with almost wild abandon... At least at first glance. Looking closer they were solving problems before they had a chance to develop. One shot cut down a Bomma Boy just before he could throw a grenade, turning a potential problem into the  _enemy's_ problem. They never missed by more than a few inches and with penetrating ammunition even the over-armored Goffs were finding the well aimed rounds to be hyper-lethal.  
  
I wasn't surprised to spot broken armor and bloody wounds among the Assault Squad. While it was probably a dramatization, the opening of Dawn of War had shown Orkz going toe to toe with Space Marines and giving an equal showing. That they managed to land some real hits on the girls fighting them in their most advantaged distance was no surprise at all. Still they'd given more than they'd gotten by a long shot judging from the bloody swath they cut across the base. Yet with three visibly lagging behind they'd soon run into something that they couldn't out match and start taking losses.  
  
All of this analysis took only a second and then I landed once more surrounded. I held my ground and kept my Heavy Bolter spitting death into the enemy ranks. When one side got too close I'd turn to face it and swiftly set the cowardly Gretchins running away isolating their Boyz as easy prey. Then I'd shift to another direction just as they were getting close and repeat the procedure.  
  
Finally a pair of Nobz broke through the ranks and charged at me. "WAAAGH!" They screamed as they approached.  
  
I dropped my Heavy Bolter, letting the harness catch it, and threw myself into a sideways roll. As I came back up I drew my GBE and sighted them down. With my change of angle their bodies slightly overlapped, right side of the one nearest me overlapping the left arm of the next one. My shot traveled perfectly between them but since it was on high it had blast diameter of about six feet. That was more than enough to tear half the torso off each Nob.  
  
I hadn't even noticed the trio of 'Ard Boyz behind them that wound up equally mulched.  
  
It wasn't time for celebration though as a Deff Dread roared as it tore its way out of some sort of garage far to my left. Two Killa Kans tottered after it, just adding to the threat. Simultaneously a Big Mek, Flash Git and another Nob came out from a building to my ahead and right, backhanding Grots out of the way as they came up to the fight. Getting all of them before they could deal much damage was going to be a challenge...


	3. Invasion: Magdelene IX 3

Had I come here alone this might have actually slowed me down. Were it a video game this would be the point where I'd start kiting and plinking, playing bullshit for all I'm worth. But I wasn't. It wasn't. That's why as soon as I saw the Krak Missiles scream over my head towards the Deff Dread, I knew I was free to pursue the specialists.  
  
With a scream I charged towards them, bowling over and through anything that didn't move fast enough even as my Bolt Pistol spat death on everything before me. A handful of Gretchins and a Slugga Boy that from the way he was standing around alone searching stupidly for something I'm fairly certain was only there because he was lost met messy ends as I sprinted past them. The Elites were another ballgame though.  
  
The Flash Git had both the sense and the agility to dive to the side and avoid my fire entirely, next to him the Big Mek just roared as his improvised Force Field held against my shots. Then I leveled the GBE at the bastard and fired a shot that ignored his defenses outright. It was a lower powered shot so he only gained a hole in his chest that a Gretchin could walk through, but it was more than enough to leave him stone dead. His sudden death caused the Nob and Flash Git to roar and charge at me.  
  
I had to jump to the side to avoid the sudden hale of much larger and much more explosive bullets that the Orkz shot at me. The Flash Git hit a secondary trigger of some sort a miniature Rokkit sailed through the air towards me. I started running backwards and fired my Bolt Pistol in an attempt to shoot the dangerous explosive from the air. I failed to shoot it out of the air, but I did manage to find cover to duck behind while the Rokkit whizzed past me and into a previously untouched building. In retaliation I popped out of cover GBE drawn. Rather than get a shot at the Flash Git I found the Nob much too close to ignore and instead I shot him in the abdomen with a beam that left him torn in three pieces, an upper torso and two legs.  
  
Ducking back into cover I got a brief look at the other side of the battle. Two of the Assault Squad were charging the Deff Dread, but with grenades in hand rather than Eviscerators. Sadly even damaged from more missiles it had a perfectly working Big Shoota. One of my daughters managed to navigate the maze of heated Shoota rounds without taking injury, the other took a shot to the chest and when forced herself to keep running a shot to the stomach. As she fell she slid the grenade in her hand across the ground to where it rolled up against the large Death Machine's foot. A moment later the other tossed her grenade for the hips. Both Melta Grenades went off at the same moment, super-heating the limb and flash melting the foot and hip on the same side causing it to smash forwards onto the ground.  
  
Three of the Melta Gun Squad used their boosters to jump directly on the machine's back and focus all three of their weapons into burning through the back of its torso. The last member of the their squad was visible to the side melting out a Killa Kan.  
  
A Frag Grenade flew over my head and was soon joined by several Heavy Bolters all firing at where the Flash Git had been. I heard a boom, a wail and then a brief pause followed by a gurgle. The squad responsible then came out from around the building hiding them from my sight and started to walk towards my cover. I couldn't help grinning at them, even if they couldn't see it from behind my helmet.  
  
And then a Melta beam hit one and reduced her to a screaming lump of charred flesh trapped in a suit of molten metal. My heart stopped and a cold fury filled my veins. This was too far. Too much.  _Too_  horrible for one of  _MINE_.  
  
I leaped out of cover with my optics burning and my GBE in hand. The Warboss, a Maga-Armored Flash Git, was laughing as he aimed the multi-laser that made up the main bulk of his weapon at one of my other daughters. His laughing stopped as his face disappeared, replaced by a perfect circle of empty space. His body slumped and then began to tip forwards. He landed with a loud crash that brought a momentary silence to the battlefield.  
  
What few Orkz remained lost their morale and turned to run. I didn't particularly care, but the soldiers around me immediately got to work mopping them up. It was a very isolated island, I doubted even an Ork boy could swim all the way to shore on one of the two continents without tiring.  
  
"The operation was an amazing success," Smoit declared as he walked up to me.  
  
As mad as I was, I knew what he was saying was right. "Yes, it is."  
  
"You don't sound entirely happy?" Smoit asked.  
  
"I'm used to leading. The temptation to blame myself for their deaths is high," I state turning to look at the remarkably spotless Stormtroopers. They'd been much more methodical and conservative than my daughters, perhaps that was a lesson I could use in the future. "But I am aware of my tendency for self-recrimination. That is why I assessed the operation as honestly as possible. This result is better than I anticipated. It's a win. I just need some time to internalize that."  
  
Smoit nodded. "I see. Well I'll get the lighters back and get us started on the landing field."  
  
I nod and let him walk away. Instead I turn my eyes to the rocks and sand that make up the island and the patterns of fallen blood. So much spilt over such a small area. And yet entirely worth it.  
  
Two orbs leave the ground and sink into my chest.


	4. Invasion: Magdelene IX Victory

Soon after the last Ork had died they all finally released their essence. Strangely enough it wasn't to me though. Instead a ball of golden embers almost four feet in diameter formed at the center of camp. I discretely looked around but nobody was looking at it.  
  
I casually walked over to it and once I was a few feet away it somehow shone golden light on me like a spot-light. All of my daughters instantly turned to stare at me, their expressions unreadable behind their helmet's plated visor. I began to understand the odd behavior of the essence when I mentally paged through the various mutations it offered. Two of those that I was willing to consider were for me alone, but the rest would go to everyone currently within range of my 'Spirit' assuming I took a prerequisite in those earlier two. I didn't hesitate to accept both of them.  
  
The first truly was for me alone at the moment. I'd have to put some extra effort in if I wanted to pass it on to future daughters. This came from the Big Mek and his followers and if I were to describe it in simple words it was theOrkqwipment equivalent to the 'Waaagh' upgrade. Suddenly I had the knowledge of an entire self-contained technological system that was, for all intents and purposes, unheard of in the local galaxy. Taking something I'd already done and running with it, I now knew what I'd call the 'Gravity Manipulation Spiritual Tech Tree'. It contained plans and designs for everything from anti-grav jump packs to an alternate, albeit slower, form of FTL, even weapons though anything even close to the GBE would require not only specialized,  _expensive,_  tools and facilities but also a Spirit more focused on technology and creation. Essentially Spirit, like Ork Belief or Machine Spirits, was essential in making and using the equipment that it could produce.  
  
I wasn't sure how'd put it into practice beyond making tech focused daughters, but I knew it'd be invaluable in the long run.  
  
The second was from both the Nobz and the Warboss and essentially it  _was_  'Warbossiness'. I'd become a major source and center of Spirit. My daughters would be attracted to following me unless closer to another powerful leader, or god forbid one of them managed to become stronger than me... Not likely. I'd also pump them up more during battle with my presence and it allowed for something very interesting with the remaining essence. You see, I could  _share_  essence with my 'Warband' through our Spirit connection. It was probably why they all somehow knew when I entered range of the essence in the first place. Spirit.  
  
With both changes effecting nothing more than a small section of my brain, there was no outward change for the citizens of the Imperium to notice. My daughters, however, seemed to all stand up a bit straighter as the changes were made to my body.  
  
Now it was time to upgrade all of the survivors. Advanced Healing, wouldn't make them Wolverine expies but it would make them hard to keep down for long. Bionic Unity, had no effect on them just yet, but I could feel my body incorporating my bionic arm on a more fundamental level. It expended some essence to speed the process along, replacing the struts with Lesser Vibranium and optimizing the false muscles while metal clad chakra veins grew until it was indistinguishable from a natural arm. My eyes tracked to the first of the Tactical Squad to fall. She'd actually managed to survive, the shock wave propagated through her skeleton so that it became a full body bruise rather than crushed organs. The upper leg had been cauterized to prevent her bleeding to death but she'd still lost too much blood to remain conscious. In all likelihood, she'd be the first to benefit from this.  
  
Danger Sense came next. Well, I called it Danger Sense but this wasn't a super power. It was more like a sensitivity to pressure and fluctuations in air currents and even then mostly in the brain's processing of the signals not the skin. So long as the armor they were in had good enough sensors, they'd be able to detect almost any sneak attack and probably most infiltrators if they got too close. Last of all was a Hazardous Environment Package (with tweaks), glands in the throat and outside on the neck that would attract toxins and sweat them out in a substance that their skin wouldn't re-absorb, much stronger liver, kidney and intestine poison filters, transparent membranes that close over their eyes on reflex if they taste toxins or wind up in vacuum, another membrane to block off the nostrils at will. Now they could Spit-crete their lips and at the cost of not talking for a day take a space walk while naked.  
  
Since there was some left I also distributed the Perfect Equilibirum enhancement I'd made during the fight.  
  
Once I was done the remaining essence collapsed and a pair of point orbs floated out from within. I just nodded and roughly signaled for my Daughters to gather round.  
  
Four of the five surviving Assault Squad members were favoring a limb, two limping while one had a long crack in her gauntlet that belied the broken bone she was favoring underneath. The five members of the Tactical Squad not taken out were all ambulatory with minor dents and burns in their armor. Two of the Heavy Squads were all hands on deck, though one was bleeding from a bullet wound to her shoulder that left her unable to lift her Heavy Flamer, and the last was one short and I knew exactly who that was.  
  
"This... Was not a fair fight. Some would say the Orkz had us out numbered- that THEY held the advantage. FOOLISHNESS! We came knowing we would win and look around,  _we have won_. In ancient times, on the Svannah of Holy Terra there lived a King among the predators! Of course that was how they were known, but in truth it was their women who did their hunting. It was the  _females_  of the mighty Lion Prides that the creatures of their demesne learned to fear. They did not fight fair. They hunted in groups and surrounded their prey, for their desire was not sport but VICTORY! For with victory came the meat to feed their young, the strength to last to the next generation and beyond!" I orated as my daughters slowly stood straighter, some even ignoring their wounds at the pride I was instilling in them.  
  
"YOU ARE THE PRIDE! YOU! ARE! LIONESSES! And the forces that threaten humanity will come to tremble at your name! They will feel the icy touch of fear when they hear of your presence! From this day forth, your unit shall be named the SPECTRAL PRIDE!"  
  
They cheered, many, I'm sure, already thinking of how they'd customize their armor to fit the new theme and icon. And then we heard the roar of the Lighter engines and it was time to get to work converting this spit of land into a proper base camp and air-field.


	5. Operation: Decapitation of Industry

I'd intended Buzzgob to be the last target on my hit list. He was a Mek Boss capable of producing Titans and Deff Dreads in mass numbers. Although I'd managed to score a regiment with a Baneblade, it alone wasn't enough to tip such scales. So the plan had been to take on the more manageable Warbosses, cut his support out from under him. Hopefully get him to spread those Titans out where I could get the chance to take the six or seven shots with the GBE it would take to kill such monsters.  
  
And then I bought War God.  
  
Even in the isolated center of the ocean I was gaining a point an hour from the Ork infighting. Thankfully ROB had altered the fluff text slightly so it was 'mortal' deaths rather than just human that fueled it. I'd have hated being forced to feed my handy Imperial Guard regiment to the Orkz for points. I'd have still done it, since the payoff would be completely worth it, both personally and to the Imperium as a whole. I also noticed the orbs I got from War God had a maroon band in the middle, so I wouldn't confuse them with something I wouldn't lose.  
  
For a while I debated holding off on Expertise: Fuuinjutsu, it would be worth so much more if it couldn't fade, but ultimately I decided that for now it was better to have it. So ten hours in to our base construction I had Expertise: Chakra and Expertise Fuuinjutsu both. At that point I locked myself in my quarters and exploded in power and potential. Investing all the essence I had I folded, compressed, engorged and expanded my chakra system until I had an innate chakra pool equal to any Jounin in Naruto. It wasn't quite kage level, but like any chakra system it could be built upon through use and training. If I kept up some minor training, in a decade I'd be the equal of your average kage, in two I'd be more along the lines of Kisame. A hundred years from now... I'd be a bijuu in my own right most likely.  
  
In any case, some quick control exercises and focused practice unlocked a raft of new abilities. Kawarimi, Body Replacement, and Shunshin, Instant Movement, were simple exercises of chakra in practice and each was easily learned. Not mastered, that'd take a bit, but I could certainly use them at will now. I easily determined myself to have a strong water affinity, but for the moment I wasn't too keen on doing anything so obvious. I mastered the basic exercise of drawing water from the air in a few hours, but mostly kept it in mind as a possible poison delivery system. Instead I focused my real time on lightning and wind. It was much harder, taking the better part of a day for each, but paid off well. I could now coat my bare hand in wind chakra, increasing its cutting power, or channel lightning chakra through my bionic arm to cast the most overpowered rendition of Sith Lightning ever. Like deep frying tanks overpowered.  
  
Of course that was just the straight chakra manipulation. With an entire world of Fuuinjutsu at my fingertips I was out of my armor and inscribing bloody sigils in the thing in moments. On the inside of course, no point showing the troops that my armor has more arcane symbols in it than all the Thousand Son's combined. But oh what beauty when it was finished. For the low, low cost of about half my chakra I could activate the armor for a day and be essentially immune to weapons, with a passive field of wind knocking lighter blows away and pure chakra rebounding anything that hit. It had no wind resistance, could turn off gravity on a whim, fire a beam of wind-enhanced fire chakra from my left palm, inscribe seals with chakra in places and then teleport back to those places at will, use chakra rather than fuel for my jump pack, shine like a miniature sun for a moment, turn invisible, capture all chemical emissions from my body and destroy them rendering myself odorless, store a small armory worth of weapons in storage seals at my hips, and finally I had a length of wire attached to crudely fashioned barbed heads contained in each palm in case I needed to drag something around.  
  
I was ready to assassinate Buzzgob right now. Mere Orkz were no longer much of a threat to me. Chaos was more of a problem. I knew I could seal daemons away now, but I'd need more information on the interactions of chakra and the warp before I'd be ready to do so as anything but a last resort. After all, why seal evil in a can when you can seal it in a purification plant?  
  
Of course I had to wait for the base to get properly set-up and the Valkyrie wing I'd ordered sent in. Supply runs were being made by large but unarmed transports supported in space by a pair of Fury Interceptors and then followed down into the atmosphere by a wing of Thunderbolt Air-Superiority Fighters. It was somewhat slow work since we were getting the Company of Imperial Guard needed to properly defend the base down before we actually got the air assets into the local area.  
  
Mechanized Infantry Company Beta, with three platoons that wouldn't be seeing action any time soon dedicated to holding the base and getting the Sentry Guns set up. Each of those platoons also had a squad of Ogryn who stank to high heaven but excelled at grunt work and heavy lifting. Their attached Chimera were left on the ship for now. They'd come down last, even after the Valkyries. Platoon four, on the other hand, was practically tailor made for fighting on this planet. They consisted of six regular guard squads and each had a Tauros Light Vehicle attached. Tauros were light enough to be air-lifted by your standard Valkyrie meaning they could be used on even the most mundane missions.  
  
It took three days and six hours from the moment I gained War God until we were ready to launch the next mission. I'd been waiting twelve of those. On the other hand it gave me the chance to pick up Divine Strength and Divine Resilience. It never hurt to be more unkillable, and my body could already handle the stresses of ten times my strength so there were no visible changes there.  
  
"Alright, Pride, Platoon 4, gather round, shut up and listen!" I called as I set up a projector with a map of the planet's surface on it. The thing doing the projecting looked like a fucking nightmare that would rise up and reap a bloody harvest, but apparently despite appearances transparency projectors were still the go to for explaining shit to many people at once. In a few short minutes I was surrounded by curious faces, many similar though not exactly the same as my own, and others far more diverse. Since it was only a single platoon we had only one Commisar though he was a gnarled cuss of a man.  
  
"We are here." I stated pointing at the island we were on. "The mission is here." I pointed at a large plain on the continent to our west. "This should be a relatively easy one for starters. Not that you should expect a cake walk, but most of the really bad complications won't be a real issue. The area I've indicated is the home of a Warband of Snakebite tribe Orkz. These Orkz have eschewed 'high technology' like Warbikes, Wartrukks, Deff Dreads, you get the picture. Instead they breed Squigs like you would not believe. This is the only Snakebite Warband on Magdelene IX and I intend to make them the last."  
  
The world map was removed replaced with a composite of several reconnaissance photographs taken from overhead. Unfortunately they were taken from space so you couldn't see any individual Orkz besides the giant Squiggoths, all eight of them. "The primary complication with this Warband are the Squiggoths. Don't worry about them. I'll be taking care of them in the opening moments of the mission. Your mission will be to burn the Squg pens, destroying the 'industry' that fed and grew those Squiggoths in the first place, and the deaths of all Nobz and the local Warboss." I indicated the large area that contained the Squig farm and then at the base which likely housed the Warboss, whose name we didn't know from lack of intel.  
  
"Any questions?" I asked. They'd all been briefed on the GBE so nobody asked the stupid question of how I was taking out the Squiggoths, thankfully. When it seemed clear nobody had anything to say I continued. "After I take out the Squiggoths, I'll remain in the area to support you for the remainder of the mission. However as soon as the mission is over I'll be leaving on my own personal mission. That mission is classified. Smoit will plan the missions while I'm away, he's been fully briefed on my goals and priorities."  
  
"We're wheels up in two hours. Emperor Protects. Dismissed."


	6. Operation: Decapitation of Industry 2

As we moved over the mainland my orb intake jumped from one an hour to ten. In the course of our three hour trip I racked up over thirty points, but for now I was saving them. I didn't really expect much trouble from our target once they were out of Squiggoths so I didn't see the point in not getting the big ticket item out of the way.  
  
The details of the first phase of the plan were pretty simple. All ten of the Valkyries in the wing were en route to the operation. 6 to carry Guardsmen and their Tauros, 4 to carry the Pride with the Heavy Weapons Squads doubling up in one of them and the odd team riding with me. We were taking a bit of a circuitous route but it rather neatly avoided the built up AA of the Bad Moon Warbands along the coast and got us into Snakebite territory with minimal fuss.  
  
The Pride would air drop in first and secure the primary landing zone. Then would come the Guardsmen to secure the area. Once they were all set the Guardsmen would get to work on making a lightning raid on the pens while the Pride would strike up into the actual Ork encampment. The Valkyries would remain on hand to provide air support but they were grounded unless called in to conserve fuel for the return trip. I was going to be the last of the Pride to drop and it would be from well over the Squiggoth herd.  
  
As far as air drops went, the last had been much better. The Assault Squad landed as a scattered group right in front of a group of Feral Orkz. In the initial exchange one of them was too slow and lost their right arm, but was quick enough with a Bolt Pistol to kill the Orkz that sought to take advantage of their crippling injury. Meanwhile the Tactical Squad was stuck in a checkpoint where the Orkz could mass both sides preventing them from leaving, but also prevented the Orkz from overwhelming them. One of the heavy squads had landed literally on top of a group of Boyz, crushing them to death and then introducing the remaining squad to the wonders of fire. The other two heavy teams were a bit spread out but managed to take the high ground and quickly form up to rain death on the Orkz below.  
  
Even as my Valkyrie rose to get me over the colossal beasts I was about to kill, I could feel the Spirit of my Pride rising. Even with my literally divine strength the difference was enough to be felt though only a small fraction of my total strength. When the hatch opened I Body Flickered out into the air... straight into free fall.  
  
I was still hundreds of meters above the nearest Squiggoth, much too far to simply kill it. With my new armor seals I didn't even feel the wind. I could hear it roaring by around me, but it no longer touched me directly. Now the ground was swiftly approaching and I quickly righted myself with a bit of wind manipulation. I fired off my jump pack to decelerate and barely came to a hover about ten feet of the back of a Squiggoth. After confirming my angle, I cut the jump boosters and fell to a graceful landing on the creature's back.  
  
Beings this large might as well have been Titans, and much like them if I just started shooting it would take at least half a dozen shots to take it down. However, as a living creature the Squiggoth had a weakness most Ork Titans wouldn't. A brain necessary to any and all continued function.  
  
I raced across the monster's back, too light for it to even realize I was there. There was a group of Orkz camped out between me and the head, clearly attempting to build some sort of structure on the creature's back. I didn't even slow down for them. With wind chakra sheathed around my hands, I danced through them and plunged my hands through their vitals in moves so fast they were only visible as blurs of motion. A few seconds later I arrived at the beast's head. My full powered shot from the GBE hollowed out the skull and bounced me into the air where I used my wind manipulation to float towards the next target.


	7. Operation: Decapitation of Industry 3

I knew the battle had been joined in earnest when I noticed a significant jump in my orb collection rate. It was enough to convince me that I might as well get one of the most useful and versatile upgrades I could buy. God's Eyes.  
  
My vision went wonky for a half second and then it was perfect beyond all imagining. Seriously, I'd had 'perfect' vision before but now I could pick out and understand details all the way to the horizon as though I were looking right at them. I could count the Orkz wading through the plains impossibly far from the combat zone... Well I'd probably lose count if I actually tried but it wouldn't be for difficulty making them out. When my feet touched down on the fourth Squiggoth's head I simply looked down and saw where the brain met the spine. A high power shot and I was back in the air while the beast collapsed in a dead heap.  
  
As I floated I tried to get a feel for the rest of the battle. I had to admit whoever was commanding the Imperial Guard Squads knew their stuff. The Tauros would harass a point, drawing out defenders to be gunned down in the open and then zipping away until the Guardsmen arrived. They'd clear the point, make certain attack wasn't imminent and then push forwards. They'd engage the free floating Orkz on the way to the next point, and if they found they couldn't handle it they'd fall back to a quick barricade made of parked Tauros that would bring their guns to bear in a big way. Any Tauros not part of the blockade would then come from a single flank and sweep away the enemy. Simple and effective considering it had lost them barely any men at all. They'd be longer in reaching the pens but they'd be hale and hardy enough to simply roll over the defenders once they did.  
  
My Pride had made it to the base proper but they were getting bogged down without truly meeting anything they couldn't handle. Orkz were charging them by the dozen but with at least four Heavy Bolters and six regular Bolters turned against them they were quickly suppressed and killed. Any cover they used was hit with Melta-guns which literally melted it away, and any that got too close were burned by heavy flamers. I noticed the lack of Assault Squad and worried they'd been wiped out, but my fears were assuaged when I found them moving stealthily through some of the tall Savannah grass around the base.  
  
 _Finally_ , I couldn't help but think in mild exasperation,  _at least some of them are finally using stealth to achieve their objectives._  Now I didn't know their objective, but if I had to guess it was the Nob loudly ordering the Boyz around him into the grinder.  
  
My feet met the solid platform of a Squiggoth's back and I looked towards the head to find a dozen raging Orkz charging at me. I drew my GBE and fired a low powered shot at the lead, then I noticed it was actually replenishing that charge in a little under 1/10th of a second. "That's stupidly overpowered." I said to no-body in particular and then simple aimed at each Ork in turn and blew a hole the size of a basket-ball through their chests.  
  
I was surprised when a shadow appeared around me and quickly flickered forwards several yards. There was a titanic crash and I nearly lost my footing despite holding it with chakra as the Squiggoth I was on suddenly became a horizontal surface. Reaching out with my hand to give myself another sticking surface, I twisted around to see what had hit us. Answer: Another Squiggoth. And it gave a deafening roar as it caught sight of me.  
  
It was too far away from my position to simply GBE through the brain, sadly. A quick survey of the part I was holding to revealed that right now I was standing on the shoulder haunch of the massive creature I'd been targeting. Ifocused and chakra began to gather around my right arm. The chakra gathered, until my arm literally glowed and then began the process of conversion into lightning element. In moments I had arcs of plasma jumping from my hand to the creature beneath me leaving minor burns on its hide. With a scream of effort I plunged my arm, GBE and all into the creature's hide digging my way through until my gun was immersed in blood and viscera.  
  
I fired at the same moment as I activated my bionic and all of that charged electricity became questing tendrils of super-charged lightning. The gun cut a swath through the creature's heart but it would hardly have been fatal for something with so many redundant systems. My lightning on the other hand burnt bones until they cracked and fried huge portions of the creature's nervous system. One tendril even scorched a portion of the brain-stem. Hundreds of tons of meat were cooked from the inside out, muscles burnt into uselessness or cut by super-heated bolts. Even then. EVEN THEN. The monstrosity of Orkish biology still lived. It just wasn't going to be doing anything other than wallow in pain for the rest of its life. Good enough for me.  
  
I quickly bought Divine Speed with my excess points and suddenly charged across the crippled Squiggoth's back. I was moving so fast my feet barely had time to touch the ground, but that was okay. Just a little bit of chakrasticking and using my TTK to push myself down onto the beast kept me from flying off from sheer velocity. Soon I was in place and a quick jump landed me behind the beasts nose horn where we could stare each other straight in the eyes. And as much as it was a dumb beast there was something innately malevolent in those eyes... And then something fearful as I raised my weapon at a speed it could comprehend.  
  
*Blam*  
  
I sailed into the air and quickly tracked my last target. It was the smartest of them all and was running away. I had no intention of allowing such an asset to the local Waaagh live. In seconds I'd overtaken it, run up its leg, and placed my GBE to the back of its skull.  
  
*Blam*


	8. Operation: Decapitation of Industry 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning the uh, brain to data converter organ sees use this chapter. (-_-)

Turns out my team didn't need my help to finish their mission. The Assault Squad lost another two to outright KIA, but they managed to slow the flood of Nobz that preceded the Warboss enough to get the Valkyries to come as air support. Their combined firepower was enough to massacre even the tougher Orkz. When the Warboss came they laid into it from a range but it managed to tank even the air support well enough to charge the lines. The Tactical Squad's nominal leader, Illyria (she'd even asked me turn her skin blue, I'd vetoed it), met him in single combat and managed to dance around him until she could land a decisive blow. While its true the bastard was heavily injured it was still a significant accomplishment.  
  
I got an orb from the last Squiggoth and Illyria both before leaving the area.  
  
As I was heading south towards the forests that edge the Savannah I ran into a Bad Moon column moving up to support the Snakebites. Thinking about it for a moment I spent another five of my maroon banded orbs and boughtMartial Prowess - Taijutsu. Partially to continue the ninja theme, but mostly because it was battle proven by people with super-powers trying to kill each other in the field. I didn't bother with the GBE against them and literally tore through the column with empty hands and a mix of Mantis Style, think Hopkido if you could turn your hands into steel at will, assassination strikes and Hard Fist blows that cracked open vehicles like peanut shells.  
  
I moved through them like a deadly wind, barely seen and never touched. When I came out the other side my hands and the soles of my feet were covered in blood but otherwise I was spotless. Behind me the few Orkz still standing realized they were dead and finally fell.  
  
Maximizing my acceleration I flitted across the ground, looking with my superior eyes in search of signs of the Dreadheadz, Buzzgob's personal unit. Idly I added Ascended to my War God powers. No point having to sleep, eat, and rest in a war zone. Those were weaknesses I'd happily do without. As I came up on the much more densely populated areas I dumped most of my remaining chakra into my armor and activated the stealth functions.  
  
For about an hour I stealthily flitted through the Ork territories until I found something interesting. Not what I was looking for admittedly but  _very_  interesting.  
  
About six kilometers off my current path was an Ork prison camp. If I were interested in living prisoners it would have been a total waste, there were maybe a half-dozen humans left alive in the camp and all of them emaciated and useless. No, instead I was fascinated by their pile of Sisters of Battle corpses. They were wearing the same white tunics the woman whose armor I'd stolen had been wearing under her armor and several of them had battle scars. I searched long and hard to find one that was  _not_  scared in any significant way. The one I found was incredibly young, possibly an initiate though her body condition was excellent apart from the massive hole in her chest showing that she was highly combat trained.  
  
As disgusting as it was going to be I steeled myself and carefully sliced her skull open with bits of wind chakra from my fingertips. I set the crown of her head aside and carefully retracted the grey matter from within. Thankfully it was entirely intact and not badly damaged by her death. My fingers dug into the matter and came out with the necessary memory centers. Trying not to think about it I slid the brain matter into my mouth and swallowed as soon as possible. A shudder of revulsion passed through me as it slid down and into the special memory absorption stomach.  
  
I closed my eyes as her life filled my mind. As with most Sisters her parents were Imperial servants lost to one of the many wars ravaging the galaxy, she'd dreamed of captaining a void-ship but the Sisters picked her up first. Rather than rage at the loss of her dream she threw herself into being the greatest Adepta Sororitas she could possibly be, convinced the Emperor had some plan. Top of her class, top acolyte, the Canoness herself was looking to the girl as a possible protege. Good.  
  
By now my War God had filled up, though I was still buying piece-meal, so I easily still had the twenty points to spend on Double Trouble. I focused as I bought it and rather than copying all of my equipment she appeared completely naked. For a brief moment I was in two places looking in two different directions, it was weird.  _Too_  weird to be immediately useful so I spent some essence forming a new lobe in my brain to process the input and force the new body's brain to take over most of it's thinking. A second later I was me again, I just saw more and knew more. The second body was given primarily the girl's memories and personality so those would be her automatic responses, but at the same time she was still me and still working towards my higher goals and desires.  
  
It was difficult to explain but in the end my mind stayed anchored primarily to me and I wouldn't be having any 'woops wrong window' moments with my bodies.  
  
Next came the really hard part. She focused her own essence reserve, and wasn't that interesting, into and through her body while she dipped her fingers in the girl's blood. Everything I'd done to my body she removed or broke down as her DNA rewrote itself at the most fundamental level. I grimaced at the residual pain echoing through the link and couldn't blame her a bit for screaming. Of course I massacred the Orkz that came to check up on the problem before they could even see her.  
  
Finally she was finished and where there had been my clone now sat a nineteen year old girl with pale green eyes and platinum blond hair. Though her body was a testament to strength it was still within the norms for a human. Her face was surprisingly cute in its features and held a slight air of naivete around her. That was excellent, it was exactly what she'd need to become a religious icon.  
  
It occurred to me that if I wanted her to reach her maximum potential then I really had to finish off the last of my War God points. Divine Beauty, Sixth Sense, Apex Predator were obvious and brought me to 170 points spent. I dropped my invisibility, took off my helmet and had us look at each other so I could gauge the changes in our faces. Mine... Changed very little. Not that I was all that beautiful beforehand, but now my stern visage evoked a beautiful and dreadful being that you couldn't help but adore from afar and cringe in terror at their gaze. Hers was on the other extreme. Youthful innocence and a button nose became a sweetheart visage that evoked a sense of innocent adoration. She  _was_  a saint just from looks alone and while it worked excellently into my plans I couldn't help a slight twinge of jealousy at the genetics which fashioned such a PR monster.  
  
After some brief thinking and a few more hand eviscerated Orkz I invested some of the remaining points in Expertise: Religion, and Warp. The sheer mass of raw knowledge that poured into me left me dazed and raw. My other side, Hilary her template's name had been and so would be how I thought of her from here on, had to kill a couple Orkz on her own while I was out since the lobe managed the data flow to her so it would come at a much more manageable rate. Turns out she was strong enough to kill them almost as easily as I could, not quite but enough not to have to fear anything below a Dread or a Nob.  
  
I pulled a Hand Flamer from my seal once I had my feet back under me and doused the real Hilary in a healthy dose of Promethium before setting the body alight. My ruse could afford no physical sign of the original girl's body to survive. I contemplated the remaining prisoners and then spent my last points on Healing Hands. Hilary walked, unashamedly naked into the prisoner camp, they all sat up and looked at her with silent curiosity. She came to the first and simply put a hand to the woman's face, it glowed white and though it took a few minutes it ended with a hale and healthy Sister of Battle.  
  
The woman grabbed Hilary and looked into her eyes for a long moment, then forced her to turn every which way looking for any small sign of corruption. "No sign of mutation... It's... It's a miracle!" The woman exclaimed.  
  
Hilary grabbed the woman's hands, "Please Sister, I am hardly worthy of such favor from his grace. How could an Acolyte like me perform miracles while the Emperor leaves a Seraphim of your distinguished service to suffer?" Hilary asked and I almost wanted to laugh.  
  
The Seraphim became indignant, "We do not question His Will child! If has given you the fortitude to survive and a gift to revive the hopeless then it is a part of His plan! Do not deny him, lest you lose the very gifts he's given!"  
  
Hilary nodded chastised and humbly walked to the next prisoner before healing him. It was surprisingly taxing considering my resistance to physical exhaustion, but she had more than enough stamina to revive them all and fight her way out.  
  
I slipped away, once more invisible, confident she could organize her own little miracle brigade. Soon there would be a new Imperial Saint or at the very least an extremely high ranking Sister of Battle. I wasn't certain what I'd do if they asked her to heal the Emperor, probably go ahead with it and damn the consequences but I wasn't entirely certain, but I knew there was no way any of my doubles would step foot on Holy Terra without a proper invitation. In any case it was a problem for later.  
  
Now I needed to find a teeming mass of Dreadnaughts and Titans and assassinate a single Ork from amidst their ranks. West it was.


	9. Operation: Decapitation of Industry Victory

I slipped silently out from the shadow of a wall and quickly passed through the space behind the Deff Dread. I could see Buzzgob, through the maze of walls and Dreads. I was nearly out of usable chakra from my long journey and now surrounded by heavy ordinance. I still had the heavy advantage but I always preferred a stacked deck.  
  
With judicious use of my Divine Speed and TTK I ran up and over a wall so fast I didn't need to stick to it at all. This time the gap between walls was only about as wide as your average Boy so I just jumped the gap and dropped behind the opposite wall.  
  
I wanted to sigh as I noticed the Big Mek and the Mega Armored Nob arguing on either side of me. They were about to come to blows and I was unfortunately right between them while surrounded by mud that would give away my location if I moved. Looking back and forth between them I finally twisted around and ran back up the wall. At the top I pushed off and launched myself sky ward.  
  
Rather than aim for the next in the series of walls I reached out and launched one of my grappling wires which wrapped around the barrel of a Deth Kannon. My swing took me into the front of the Stompa it was attached to and I had to run across it sideways to keep my momentum. Once again I pushed off though this time I was going straight for the prize. As soon as I reached the apex of my swing I released the wire and let it fall slack behind me as I fell over ten feet to hard metal flooring of Buzzgob's work shop.  
  
Despite landing with a clatter the Warboss ignored me as he focused on his welding. I didn't know if he didn't hear me or was just leaving the investigation to the pair of apprentice Mek Boyz that were now walking towards my location. Rather than risk standing up, I carefully crawled on my fingers and toes around the floor and away from their investigation. It was hard not disturbing anything in such a cluttered environment. Tools were scattered around, oil puddles gathered at random places on the floor. At one point I almost kicked a Grot who had apparently been trapped under the biggest fucking monkey wrench I'd ever seen and been subsequently forgotten.  
  
Buzzgob himself was huge for an Ork, almost as tall as a dread in and of himself. My eyes perused his anatomy looking for obvious weakpoints but all I could really find for an instant kill was his brain. One of his implanted arm manipulators suddenly swung out, barely missing me, but it just picked up one of the tools and returned to its place helping him weld. I slowly reached down and pulled my GBE out. This felt entirely too easy, but then I suppose that's why I was doing it. Easily wiping out a powerful force rather than facing it head on.  
  
I aimed. Braced. And fired. The angle was perfect and left a massive hole straight through his body destroying his entire neck and most of his head. His assistants cried out in surprise but simple speed and strength was enough to crush their skulls before they could truly raise the alarm. The quality of the camps atmosphere was already changing anyways. The loss of the most powerful Warboss on the planet slowly eroding the army's discipline.  
  
With one last concentrated burst of chakra, I disappeared and reappeared at the sigil I'd left on top of a cliff overlooking the camp. I was now officially out of chakra, any more and I'd start showing physical symptoms of depletion. A trio of point orbs zoomed out of the camp and entered my chest.  
  
I nodded to myself and turned north and started running. My extraction was planned for a small valley we'd passed over on the way to take out the Squiggoths. It was going to be a long run, but I did have two days to get there so I'd probably arrive before they did. Someday I'm come back and wipe out the industry they'd built to support the impossible mass of heavy armor I'd had to sneak past. Someday, but not today.


	10. Interlude: Hilary and Josephine

**Hilary POV:**  
I took a fortifying breath as I moved through the rows of injured in the dim lighting. A few torches around the outside of the room and an occasional flare burning in areas cleared of patients were our only lighting. Unaware of the passage of time I slowly walked from one body to the next laying my hands on them. If my hands glowed then they had yet to die and I healed them. Even without the need to eat or sleep, even with a truly inhuman well-spring of physical energy... I was exhausted.  
  
"My Lady." I heard someone speak but I had no idea who they were talking to. As far as I knew none of the nobles were down on this level. They were all up near the entrance with the Canoness, planning their next battle. "My... Hilary!"  
  
Finally I looked up in surprise. From my kneeling position Josephine, once again resplendent in Seraphim armor, towered over me. The very first of the people I'd healed. Idly I wondered why Sam had such a hard time thinking of them as such. People that is. If it weren't for the need to build my legend she'd have slaughtered Josephine and the others rather than leave witnesses. Oh she'd feel bad about it, but she was paranoid and held no little hatred for the denizens of this galaxy. To Sam her daughters were the real humans, and the baseline people of this galaxy were only worthy of the title in mass numbers.  
  
I was woken from my thoughts by Josephine physically hauling me to my feet. "Ack, what are you doing?"  
  
"You're exhausted and its obvious to everyone else but you. I'm taking you to get some food, and then some sleep," She lectured. I opened my mouth to protest but she cut me off, "No arguments. You're not useful to anyone if you keel over dead from exhaustion."  
  
I huffed. That wasn't actually possible. It'd take something more like a tank battery to kill me. I was exhausted, yes, but I could be far more so without ever risking my health. Still I could see there would be no point in arguing with her.  
  
It was an interminable walk up the levels of the catacomb to get to the make-shift dining area the resistance had set up. This wasn't the only cell still alive on the planet, there had been too many Crusader houses and Frataris to simply disappear in a few short years of occupation, but it was the one that had the majority of the high ranking survivors of the Sisters of Battle. Their convent was burned to the ground, but it had been near the center of the city we were hiding under. Consequently it was the largest and best armed of the often rather motley collection of faithful and desperate.  
  
As soon as I entered the room a reverent silence fell over it. God I felt embarrassed. Partly from the attention and partly on their behalf. Seriously people this scheme would be pathetically obvious they all weren't just so desperate for someone to save them. I couldn't really feel bad about it though. First off they really did need someone to save them, which I would, and Sam had already waded a bloody path through the results of humanity's belief slipping away from the Emperor. I'd accept their prayers, but only as a lesser god because  _I_  couldn't save them from the warp... Yet. Sam and I were actually passing back and forth an idea for sealing souls, much like Eldar Soul Stones, using a seal that would imitate proper scripture. If they were taken and released on Holy Terra or in properly blessed areas where the chaos of the warp is held at bay it could greatly increase their chances of escaping the pull of chaos.  
  
Josephine's snapping fingers woke me from my thoughts once more and allowed her to guide me gently into a seat. Food was placed before me and I began to mechanically eat, too tired to taste any of it. As soon as I finished eating a few individuals who had been awkwardly hanging around the fringe of the gathering finally got up the nerve to approach me. Josephine did not look happy, but though she watched carefully she didn't stop me from interacting with them.  
  
"My Lady, this has been in my family for many generations. It has protected all who have worn it, and they have clearly enjoyed the Emperor's protection. Please, My Lady. I wish you to have it," A grizzled man stated as he held out a golden aquila necklace with a silver skull in the center. My eyes saw through it to the delicate machinery held within. Huh, a minor magnetic shielding device.  
  
I accepted the gift with a kind smile, "How can I refuse such kindness? The Emperor bless you for your thoughtfulness."  
  
He smiled, a strange sight on his hardened visage and then strolled away and into a small gaggle of curious questioners. Next up were a pair of children, they gave her a rosary made of beads they'd apparently found lying around. Of course they'd found those lying around in consecrated catacombs on a shrine world, I didn't doubt the damn thing would ruin a Lesser Daemon's day. Since they'd said nothing, neither did I, only giving them a hug and a kiss to the forehead before they ran off to where the other refugee children were being minded.  
  
The last was a woman who was visibly pregnant but not  _that_  far along just yet. "I... I was hoping you'd bless my babe. Give them a better chance in these harsh times."  
  
I blinked. "I am still only an acolyte, ma'am. The only thing I can do is say the standard rites available to any lay person."  
  
"That's fine. It doesn't have to be anything fancy!" She corrected with a slight blush of embarrassment.  
  
I nodded, "Alright." Without further argument I laid a hand on her belly and recited a simple prayer that I was sure everyone in the room knew by heart. Of course my tired mind had the idea of doing something more concrete and before I could really think anything through I was pushing a minute amount of essence through my hand and into the tiny life developing within her womb. It's focus was rather limited, cleaning out junk and dangerous DNA, preventing mutation, making them the most perfect specimen of baseline human potential possible with the genetics provided. Nobody noticed anything thankfully, and I couldn't help but berate myself for being so rash.  
  
When I finished the prayer the young woman thanked me, none the wiser, and walked away. "Come on, let's get you to bed now." Josephine stated and almost physically hauled me up.  
  
For a brief moment I could feel Sam turn her attention to me, reviewing what I'd just done and interest blossoming in her thoughts. I didn't need to wonder what interested her as new ideas for how to use essence to improve, or possibly even control, those around us started to filter through the connection. To be honest I found some of her ideas paranoid or horrifying, but then that was sort of her role in our existence. Paranoid military commander as compared to my impossibly virtuous saint. Still I took the time to ponder how it could be used for healing and miracles.  
  
My quarters were thankfully spartan though that was probably be necessity. Then again they wouldn't even contemplate a new Saint if it weren't for the necessity of the situation so that cut both ways. Josephine almost reverently helped me out of my clothes though her slight blush and wandering eyes suggested a very different type of reverence than the kind I'd experienced in the dinning hall. She turned to leave and I spoke, "Stay with me." It wasn't just that I,  _we_ , hadn't gotten any since arriving in this blighted galaxy. Something was forming between us and I had ample evidence that she truly cared for me and my well being.  
  
She stopped and considered for a long moment. So long I was almost certain she'd decided to turn me down, but finally she nodded and stepped back over to me. Now that I had a Sister's memories I knew all the tricks to get her out of her armor without having to undo a metric shit ton of fasteners and I was in all too much of a hurry to do so. She helped of course and though we were careful to lay the armor on the room's small table otherwise it was a brief frenzy that led to both of us standing naked mere inches away from each other.  
  
I let myself fall against her body, it was still soft to the touch but hard as steel underneath. Comforting in its dichotomy, I was fairly certain I must feel the same. I rested my head in the crook of her neck and just luxuriated in her scent which was strong but flavored of cherry wood and cedar. There were tinges of ash and blood there, but she was a warrior and we were in a war zone. Even the lingering sweat of her constant physical efforts was muted thanks to the liberal proliferation of deodorant among the resistance.  
  
Josephine ran a calloused finger along my jaw before gently crooking around my chin and bringing my face up to look her in the eye. Her eyes were beautiful jade chips, and hungry. And without thought or intent I lent in and kissed her. It almost instantly devolved into a full tongue in mouth kiss. She surged forwards and I stumbled backwards onto my small bed. In the next instant she'd pushed me down to lay properly and climbed on top of me.  
  
Her mouth pressed close to my ear and I felt her breath tickling my sensitive ear lobe. "Hilary." Her voice was husky and made me shiver. "Go to sleep." She ordered  
  
I groaned of frustrated possibilities but then realized that I really was very,  _very_  tired. My arms wrapped around my companion, holding her warmth close as my eyes drooped closed. I didn't technically  _need_  to sleep, Sam certainly hadn't and wouldn't anytime soon. But I was so damn comfortable... This would be a great time to just drift off. Drift... off...


End file.
